Burma opens its doors

Transcript

LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Burma is entering a new era of international engagement after decades of isolation. In an historic move Hillary Clinton has visited the nation, the first US secretary of state to do so in 50 years.

The ruling military junta also opened the doors to the media for the visit and allowed journalists from around the globe to report freely for the first time.

The ABC's Zoe Daniel was there but she discovered many problems are kept out of sight of most cameras.

ZOE DANIEL, REPORTER: Even six months ago politics was only discussed in whispers in tea shops in the backstreets of Rangoon. Now it's front-page news and while talking politics still makes people nervous there is cautious optimism that change is finally coming.

RANGOON LOCAL (translated): I had think things are on the improve, yes.

ZOE DANIEL: What most people really need here is a better quality of life. Decades of repression have stunted growth. Economically Burma is far behind its neighbours. That's one key reason for what appears to be the government's sudden stunning appetite for reform that may finally force what's been a pariah state out into the light.

THIHA SAW, EDITOR, OPEN NEWS WEEKLY: It seems like the reformers are in power. They're moving ahead. So maybe they seem to realise that if we don't take these steps rapidly they will be lagging behind their neighbours. Like, take a look around their Asian neighbours. Forget about Thailand and Singapore and Malaysia. Take a look at Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos. We are lagging behind.

ZOE DANIEL: Thiha Saw has been running magazines in Rangoon for 20 years. In a country where people are routinely jailed for political comment, journalists among them, it's been fraught. But he thinks all of that is about to change too, with new media laws expected next year and the possible abolition of censorship altogether.

THIHA SAW: There will no longer be pre press censorship. That was told to us by that boss of (inaudible).

ZOE DANIEL: That's all major, isn't it?

THIHA SAW: That sounds really great for us.

ZOE DANIEL: Do you think it's real? Do you feel confident that this path is going to continue in the direction it's going?

THIHA SAW: Yeah, that's a good question and that kind of question I've been asked by a lot of my friends. Is it genuine, is this real or is it just a dream or will it be realised?

My view is that, I mean, the current regime, the current cabinet, they are quite serious about reforms and the reforms will go ahead. Maybe not to the point that we'd like it to be but then they will keep going and going and going.

ZOE DANIEL: Local media freedom is just one step towards democracy. But in a country that's so heavily restricted free speech it's a test for the government that claims to be ready.

A number of international journalists have entered the country in the last week. For many of us who work in the region, for the first time with official permission. It will only be next time we apply for a visa to enter the country that we'll know if that was a one-off or if it represents a shift in policy.

For the first time we were able to visit the headquarters of the opposition, a place we've avoided in the past as it's closely watched by government agents. Now that the party has been allowed to legally reregister as a political entity, things are operating a lot more freely here too.

Spokesman Win Htein is a former political prisoner of 14 years and one of the movement's foundation members.

WIN HTEIN, NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY: We still regard all these changes with extreme caution because we have been under stress for more than 20 years.

ZOE DANIEL: He says the government wants legitimacy and engaging with Aung San Suu Kyi may help them get it.

In an undeniable sign of progress, democracy campaigner and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi hosted the US secretary of state and a massive press pack at her home last week. It's just 13 months since she was released after spending 15 of 21 years locked in this very house.

Her party will contest forthcoming by-elections and she's expected to stand. But she's clear. Progress so far has been minor and there are major issues yet to be solved, particularly in areas unseen by the media.

AUNG SAN SUU KYI, OPPOSITION LEADER, BURMA: All hostility must cease within this country as soon as possible, that we may build up ethnic harmony and peace and a union that is prosperous and stable.

Whatever we do in the predominantly Burmese areas we hope to be matched by similar programs and projects in the ethnic nationality areas because we are a union of many peoples and in a union of many peoples there must be equality, there must be consideration for those who are in greatest need.

ZOE DANIEL: Among the most desperate are the Kachin people in Burma's far north where fighting has worsened since last year's election. The government-backed military has been accused of war crimes, brutal treatment of civilians and using rape as a weapon.

BURMESE REFUGEE (translated): Yesterday my father, brother and his wife were captured. His wife was trying to escape from a shooting and although my father and brother escaped his wife has not been found.

ZOE DANIEL: It's just one of many long-running conflicts where minority ethnic groups have faced generations of persecution by Burmese government forces.

SECOND BURMESE REFUGEE (translated): I took what I needed in my basket and I started running.

ZOE DANIEL: Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by fighting here in the last few months. Many are now cowering in makeshift camps on the Chinese border.

THIRD BURMESE REFUGEE (translated): My body was shaking. We cannot light candles. If they see the light the soldiers will start shooting. We are begging for food. We have nothing. All the children are starving.

ZOE DANIEL: Even as the government promises it will pursue peace deals with rebel groups, there are claims of chemical warfare.

REBEL SOLDIER (translated): The junta soldier fired a chemical agent and I inhaled it and felt terrible weakness.

ZOE DANIEL: The Government has apparently signed a ceasefire deal with rebels in neighbouring Shan State in the last few days. Whether they do the same with other rebel groups will be a test of their sincerity about bringing democracy, equality and basic human dignity to the people of Burma.